(Fr. sourdine; Ger. Dämpfer; It. sordino).
A mechanical device used on musical instruments to muffle the tone, i.e. to alter the timbre; the volume is usually somewhat decreased in the process.
Two debated points about the meaning of ‘with the mute’ may be settled here. First, in works that consist of several movements the instruction con sordino (‘with mute’) applies only to the movement concerned. Thus, in Mozart’s String Quintet in G minor (k516), the term con sordino over all parts at the beginning of the third movement applies only to that movement. Second, the claim that con sordino is synonymous with ‘soft’ is disproved by the specified variety of dynamic markings in the movement just mentioned, including piano, forte, crescendo and sforzando.
DAVID D. BOYDEN (1, 3), CLIFFORD BEVAN (2)/JANET K. PAGE
In instruments of the violin family the typical mute takes the form of a three-pronged clamp (sometimes two- or five-pronged), made of such materials as metal (particularly steel and aluminium), ivory, bakelite or wood (especially ebony and boxwood) (fig.1). Attached to the bridge, the mute absorbs some of the vibrations and makes the sound relatively veiled and a bit nasal; the degree of muting and the difference of tone-colour depend on the material used for the mute, its mass and the firmness with which it is attached to the bridge (see Acoustics, §II, 4). Originally a separate accessory, the mute is sometimes installed on the instrument between bridge and tailpiece, to be pushed up against the bridge for muting as needed. ‘Practice’ mutes are exceptionally heavy, and are used to decrease the volume to a fraction of the normal sound for convenience when practising (their use in concert performance is occasionally requested). A ‘wolf mute’ is sometimes used to correct the Wolf effect at the major 6th or 7th above the open G string of the cello.
The mute has been used on bowed string instruments since at least the 17th century, and was described by Mersenne (1636–7). Mutes are specified in all five string parts in several passages in Act 2 (scenes iii and iv) of Lully’s Armide (1686), among them the famous air ‘Plus j’observe’ (scene iii). Similarly Purcell specified mutes for the violins in the air ‘See, even night herself is here’ from The Fairy Queen (1692).
The flute is virtually never muted, but the loud high notes of the piccolo have been moderated by the covering of the middle and foot joints with a tube which has cloth-covered holes. In the 18th century the oboe was occasionally muted by the insertion of cotton wool, paper, sponge or pear-shaped pieces of hardwood into the bell. The mute was used to soften the lower notes or to impart a veiled quality to music representing sorrow or death. Muting is now generally accomplished by stuffing a cloth or handkerchief into the bell, a method also used by saxophonists and bassoonists. German bassoonists sometimes use a mute made of a brass cylinder around which some soft material is wound. Bassoonists and clarinettists have also used mutes made of a sound-absorbent material, for example in the form of a disc of a size that fits just inside the bell (it may have a central hole to enable the player to insert or remove it easily). A type of clarinet mute is known to have existed in the 18th century, although nothing precise is known about it: in 1785 the firm of Tuerlinckx, in Mechelen, listed an order for ‘23 clarinets with A-joints and sourdine’ for sale to a military band (see Bulletin du Cercle archéologique, littéraire & artistique de Malines, xxiv, 1914, p.176). Spontini (Fernand Cortez, 1809) muted both oboes and clarinets by tying a leather bag over the bell, a technique also used by Berlioz for the clarinet (Lélio, ou Le retour à la vie, 1831–2). It should be borne in mind that a mute applied to the bell of a woodwind instrument is likely to be unevenly effective, as compared with one applied to a brass instrument, as the proportion of the sound issuing from the bell is not constant.
Mutes are applied to brass instruments as much for modifying the tone colour as for softening the tone. Trumpets were being muted by the early 16th century for funeral ceremonies, and Mersenne depicted and described a mute in Harmonie universelle (1636–7; fig.2) and Harmonicorum libri XII (1648). 17th- and 18th-century references indicate that use of a mute raised the pitch of an instrument by a tone. However no surviving mute seems to transpose this exact amount: most raise the pitch a semitone or a bit more, depending on the mute and trumpet used (research has been hampered by a lack of mutes that can be linked with specific instruments). If desired, an instrument could be retuned to the original pitch by adding an appropriate crook. The technique of hand stopping on the horn is said to have been developed from experiments with mutes by the Dresden horn player A.J. Hampel around the middle of the 18th century (Domnich, Méthode, 1807). (See Horn, §2(iii); see also Gregory, 49ff.) Altenburg (1795) gave five reasons for muting the (natural) trumpet: secret military retreat; use at funerals; embouchure development; prevention of ‘screeching’; and improving intonation.
A mute acts on the principle of the Helmholtz resonator, changing the instrument’s timbre by reducing the intensity of certain partials and amplifying others. Additional effects of muting may include, besides changes in pitch, attenuation of volume and increased directivity. The player almost always has to adjust, when muting the instrument, to some alteration in its response.
During the 20th century, largely because of the work of jazz orchestrators, a considerable range of mutes was developed. Mutes may be constructed from aluminium, brass, copper, wood, papier-mâché, cardboard, fibre, composition, polystyrene and rubber. Few types of mute are equally effective in all registers, and there are particular problems in muting the lower notes of a brass instrument without affecting its tuning. To a large extent such problems, although they have been the subject of research, are solved empirically. Final adjustments are often left to the player who may file the corks that support the mute to achieve the best effect with the minimum disturbance to the instrument's normal blowing characteristics.
The trumpet in particular, and to a lesser extent the trombone, is played with a large variety of mutes; these are listed and described below. The 19th-century ‘echo cornet’ had an integral mute controlled by a fourth valve. Until the 20th century the only mute used regularly in the symphony orchestra was the straight mute (it has been used on the tenor and bass tubas since Strauss’s Don Quixote, 1897). On the horn, muting may be done by hand, indicated by the term ‘stopped’ (Fr. sons bouchés, Ger. gestopft, It. chiuso), or with a mute that is pear-shaped or in the form of a truncated cone (fig.3); some mechanical mutes affect pitch, and may contain a tuning-screw regulator to adjust intonation, while some horns incorporate a stopping valve to compensate for the change in pitch caused by muting. A special effect on the horn is the use of ‘brassy’ or cuivré (Fr.) notes (Ger. schmetternd or blechern): this is produced by fully stopping the horn and blowing hard, which raises the pitch as well as producing a harsh and metallic effect. The most famous instance of the use of muted horns is in the music for the bleating sheep in Strauss’s Don Quixote, where flutter-tongue effects are used at dynamic levels from pp to ff.
Of the types of mute listed below, (a) to (d) are in standard use, most notably on the trumpet and trombone (fig.4)
(a) Straight mute. Its shape is conical (though when made of metal often pear-shaped), with the wider end closed. Longitudinal strips of cork hold it in position, allowing some air to pass between the walls of the instrument and the mute. It is usually made of aluminium, fibre, cardboard or polystyrene, often plaster- or stone-lined. The sound is pure: incisive when blown hard. Straight mutes are available for all brass instruments and instructions to use a mute generally refer to this type.
(b) Cup mute. This is essentially a straight mute with the wide end bearing a cup which more or less covers the bell. The cup is often adjustable to provide a greater or lesser degree of muting and usually contains a lining of felt. The sound is attenuated and lacks edge yet has a certain roundness. Cup mutes are normally used only for the trumpet and trombone.
(c) Harmon mute (wah-wah). A metal mute held in the bell of the instrument by a cork collar so that all the air is directed through the mute. An adjustable (often removable) tube allows different amounts of air to enter the mute chamber. The sound is distant, with an edge which varies in presence according to the position of the tube. The outer face of the mute carries a bowl-shaped indentation; a ‘wah-wah’ effect can be produced by covering and uncovering this with the palm of the hand while playing. The mute is available for trumpet and trombone.
(d) Bucket mute (velvetone). A parallel-sided bucket is filled with absorbent material and usually clipped on to the trumpet or trombone bell by means of spring steel strips which hold it at a fixed distance from the instrument. The sound is quiet and dull.
(e) Practice mute. A type of straight mute with a heavy cork collar that drastically reduces the sound output. It is available for trumpet, trombone, horn and tuba.
(f) Mica mute. A variety of cup mute with a rubber edge around the cup. The sound is similar but much quieter and slightly more edgy. It is normally played close to a microphone.
(g) Whispa mute. A microphone is also necessary for this mute as its tone is otherwise inaudible. All the sound goes into a chamber filled with sound-absorbent material and it can escape only through small holes.
(h) Solo tone mute (mega, double or clear tone). A double straight mute which has a nasal yet resonant timbre. It is rarely required and is used only by the trumpet (e.g. in Bartók’s Violin Concerto, 1937–8, where the instruction ‘doppio sordino’ appears).
(i) Buzz-wow mute. A type of cup mute incorporating a membrane which adds a buzzing quality to the sound.
(j) Plunger. This rubber or metal cup is like a drain-clearing device but lacks a handle. By skilful manipulation the natural sound can be distorted in such a way that the trumpet or trombone seems almost to speak and sing.
(k) Hat (derby). This mute is a metal bowler hat, usually stone-lined, which is normally held by the left hand over the trumpet or trombone bell. When the instrument is blown ‘in hat’ the basic tone is retained but with reduced intensity. (In An American in Paris, 1928, Gershwin calls for trumpeters to play ‘in felt crown’; Stravinsky requests ‘hat over bell’ for trumpet and trombone in Ebony Concerto, 1945.)
(l) Handkerchief (cloth). A modified version of ‘hat over bell’ can be achieved by the use of a handkerchief or cloth. The technique is usually restricted to the trumpet (in, for example, Ives’s The Unanswered Question, 1906–8).
(m) Electronic mute. A mute that absorbs almost all the sound of the instrument. The sound is fed into a processing system where it can be manipulated to sound through the player’s headphones as if in a concert hall or other space; the sound can also be recorded or played through an audio system. This mute was developed by Yamaha in the mid-1990s and is available for all standard modern brass instruments.
(n) Hand over bell. The effect of ‘hand over bell’ is to slightly diminish the sound of the trumpet or trombone. It was characteristic of the Glenn Miller band in the 1930s and 40s, where the brass could produce a subtle ‘wah’ in complete rhythmic accord by this method.
(o) Hand in bell. A technique very occasionally required of trumpeters. The tone becomes increasingly muffled and the pitch of the note progressively lower as the hand is inserted further into the bell.
(p) Beer glass. One of the first types of muting used in jazz, it is used with trumpet and cornet. The glass is held in the left hand and the angle between the glass and the bell changed to vary the distortion of the sound.
(q) In stand. Playing a trumpet or trombone into the music on the stand (from a distance of about 10 cm seems the most effective). Since orchestral brass players tend anyway to blow into the music to some extent it is not markedly successful. If the bell is held too close to the music intonation and pitch are affected.
Kettledrums are muted by placing a cloth or handkerchief on the drumhead, opposite the striking point, or with an internal damper mechanism (see Timpani, §2).
On the harp, a species of muted tone may be produced by a method of plucking that stops the string as soon as the note is produced (sons étouffés). This sound resembles a short, dry, string pizzicato, quite different from the usual warm, vibrant tone of the harp as normally plucked (laissez vibrer).
A mute effect is also possible on the harpsichord and piano. On the former, a device called a Buff stop presses felts or leathers against a whole set of strings, thereby muting the tone and shortening its period of resonance, the resulting sound being almost like pizzicato. The piano has both dampers and mutes. The damper, which is made of felt, is used not to dampen (i.e. to lessen or muffle) the sound but to extinguish it. The ‘soft’ pedal is the modern version of a mute on the piano (see Una corda and Due corde).
Some early pianos had true mute stops – strips of leather, cloth or other material interposed between hammers and strings to mute and change the timbre. In 1783 Broadwood of London patented (under the name ‘sourdin’) a mute stop in which a long strip of leather was applied against the strings by the action of a pedal. Several of Beethoven’s pianos (e.g. his Erard of 1803) were equipped with mute stops. Some modern upright pianos still use a strip of felt to achieve this muting effect.
The term ‘sordino’, however, has caused some confusion, as it is also the normal term for a damper. The direction senza sordini evidently requires the damper pedal to be depressed to raise the dampers. The first edition of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata op.27 no.2 gives the direction, ‘One should play this whole piece very delicately and senza sordino’; and above the bass staff, ‘always pianissimo and senza sordino’. Interpreted literally, this seems to mean that the damper pedal should be kept down continuously from the beginning to the end of the movement. The use of continuous pedal for an entire passage or movement is found also in works by Steibelt and others from the 1790s. The technique was always used in conjuction with a very soft dynamic level (Rowland, 1993; see Pedalling).
BoydenH
MersenneHU
J.E. Altenburg: Versuch einer Anleitung zur heroisch-musikalischen Trompeter- und Pauker-Kunst (Halle, 1795/R; Eng. trans., 1974)
M.J. Kurka: A Study of the Acoustical Effects of Mutes on Wind Instruments (Chicago, 1961)
R. Gregory: The Horn (London, 1961, 2/1969)
R. Gregory: The Trombone (London, 1973)
C. Bevan: The Tuba Family (London, 1978)
A. Blatter: Instrumentation/Orchestration (New York, 1980/R, 2/1997)
N. Del Mar: Anatomy of the Orchestra (London, 1981)
A. Rice: A History of the Clarinet to 1820 (diss., Claremont Graduate School, 1987), 361–4
J. Keller: ‘Antique Trumpet Mutes’, HBSJ, ii (1990), 97–103
D.L. Smithers: ‘Antique Trumpet Mutes: a Retrospective Commentary’, HBSJ, ii (1990), 104–11
R.W. Pyle: ‘A Computational Model of the Baroque Trumpet and Mute’, HBSJ, iii (1991), 79–97
P. Downey: ‘More on Mutes’, HBSJ, iii (1991), 264–8
J.K. Page: ‘“To Soften the Sound of the Hoboy”: the Muted Oboe in the 18th and early 19th Centuries’, EMc, xxi (1993), 65–80
D. Rowland: A History of Pianoforte Pedalling (Cambridge, 1993), 60–65